Wamuchomba Changes Tune On Kenyan Media After CS Kuria Attacks

Githunguri Member of Parliament (MP) Gathoni Wamuchomba on Monday, June 19 urged the political class to respect the press, following threats by Trade Cabinet Secretary (CS) Moses Kuria to fire government officials who advertise with the Nation Media Group (NMG).

In a statement, the lawmaker, who is a former journalist, called for freedom of the press to be safeguarded in line with the Constitution.

"Freedom of the Press is one of the Fundamental principles of Governance achieved through the second liberation of the Country. We are only to blame if we cannot uphold what our forefathers painfully fought for. 

"We must for whatever price defend the constitution of Kenya and ensure that the independence of parliament and freedom of the press is NOT eroded to favour individuals," stated the UDA legislator.

Githunguri MP Gathoni Wamuchomba during a past Parliament session. /FILE

She further called for the safety of journalists and their freedom to express themselves in the current society.

"As a trained Journalist, I respect the principle of Fair play and thus Right to Reply must not be demanded through coercion and threats. Journalists must be safe and free to Express in modern society in their role in Agenda setting and Gatekeeping," she added.

This is notably a change of tune from her stance against the media, which she had on September 2, 2022, accused it of biased reporting during the August 9 general elections.

"The Kenyan Media has totally lost it, especially during the just concluded elections. We saw their outright bias-reported stories, airtime allocation to various presidential candidates, and biased editorials. 

"Without a blink, they flashed fake opinion polls and created sensational headlines. I stopped reading newspapers and watching and listening to the news. Thank God there is a variety of news on social media," she wrote on her Facebook page.

She claimed that the media was humbled and at the time were camping at Karen to get a glimpse of President William Ruto, who was the president-elect at the time, adding that they had no choice but to refer to him by his newfound title at the time.

"In future, I want to see the Minister of Communications who is familiar with the 13 principles of the code of conduct, so as to align the media broadcast arena with the constitution. To engrave independence, and fair play into the practice and uphold all media ethics. 

"I wish to see a balanced print media, factual credible and timely broadcasts and consistent factual editorials. Radio frequencies are public properties and media owners must be liable for their output. It's time to bring back sanity in the Kenyan media," she recommended.

During the 9 pm news bulletin on June 19, NTV's Smriti Vidyarthi called out Kuria for using street insults and unprintable expletives against the media house and its principal shareholder over a report that claimed that Ksh6 billion in oil funds were abused through botched tenders issued by the Trade and Agriculture ministries, funds which belonged to the taxpayer.

Weighing in on statements issued by the Media Council of Kenya (MCK), the Kenya Union of Journalists (KUJ), the Kenya Editors' Guild (KEG) and the Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission (EACC) condemning the CS's remarks, Vidyarthi slammed Kuria for alleged attempts to abrogate Chapter Four of the Bill of Rights, particularly the freedom of the press.

"The Kenya Union of Journalists has called the CS a symbol of national shame. And he is. How else can you explain his constant thoughtless outburst? Remarks against an institution whose freedom is guaranteed by the Constitution, no less. Our concern tonight is not the fact that the CS is raving mad on social media or that he shamelessly lost his cool at a public event.

"He could keep doing that if he doesn't respect the lofty position he holds. But it is his temerity to threaten a media organization in present-day Kenya that is baffling. His purported blanket injunction on government departments seeking to advertise on NMG platforms is a height of arrogance and the mark of a public official drunk with power," she stated.

In response, the CS threatened to make public a list of Nation Media journalists forced to write stories against President William Ruto's administration. He is yet to do so at the time of publishing this story.